The Geographer Cone Snail, a beautiful but deadly ocean predator, uses a potent neurotoxic venom delivered via a harpoon-like tooth to paralyze prey instantly. While its sting can be fatal to humans, ...

Snails seem like slow, unassuming animals until you meet the cone snail. This mollusk packs a punch as one of the most predatory and venomous creatures crawling the seafloor. This YouTube video shows ...

Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent six days a week. Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Even as a boy plucking cone-snail shells from tide pools near his ...

When it comes to research on venom and converting it into useful drugs, studies involving exotic snakes or brightly colored frogs seem to attract the most attention. However, one of the most promising ...

As if drowning weren't enough, there are so many ways the ocean will end your life. Add to the lethal list of box jelly fish, blue ringed octopus, fugu and the always popular great white shark, the ...

Ever heard of conotoxins? They are bioactive peptides present in the venom of the predatory marine cone snails that are well known for their effective envenomation strategy. The conotoxins help these ...

Behind a pretty shell sits a precision hunter whose toxins can stop a heartbeat, yet also power pain relief and new diabetes ...

Researchers have found that variants of this cone snail venom could offer future possibilities for developing new fast-acting drugs to help treat diabetics. The tapered cone shell is popular among ...

Cone snails have inspired humans for centuries. Coastal communities have often traded their beautiful shells like money and put them in jewelry. Many artists, including Rembrandt, have featured them ...

(KUTV) — An international team of researchers, including University of Utah Health scientists, report they have developed the world’s smallest, fully functional version of insulin. The human hybrid ...

The aptly named cone snail wears a house that resembles a Ben & Jerry’s receptacle, filled not with ice cream but with a squishy mollusk that sports an extendable, trunklike proboscis. The snails are ...

Tina Petway was working on a remote island when one of the most toxic creatures on the planet stung her three times. Alone with no way to call for help, she began to lose consciousness on the way back ...